The Final Adventure
by Dummy Perception
Summary: Leslie is dead. That's what everyone thought. But Jess saw her somewhere else... swept by the creek perhaps?
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

He prepared himself for the fall. He knew that this time, nobody's going to save him. There is no more of the Janice troll, no more of the Dragonfly-warriors, nor any randomly passing Squoager that could break the fall. He prepared himself for the pain that the fall might cause him, for he knew that he was falling from a high place. He might even die. Then maybe he'll see Leslie again.

"They thought you were their king…"


	2. FOREWORD

Hi reader! You must have come here cause you're one of my followers, or might have been looking for a crossover of these two stories. Whatever the reason is, thanks for even stumbling in.

I know it's a bit off, but I wanted to say a few things before we begin the story. First off, the DISCLAIMER: I never owned Bridge to Terabithia nor the Chronicles of Narnia; Katherine Paterson and C.S. Lewis do respectively. I never had the luck of living in their shoes nor in a geographical location near them.

I've had this story in my messed up brain a long time ago, and I finally get to be rid of it.

Jess is such a miserable person. What am I supposed to do? I just can't be contented on how he ended up building a bridge so the same mistake won't happen again. There has to be another reason; a longer explanation.

Since this story has a bit of a link to somewhere in Narnia (and I bet you've already guessed it; will be shown in the later chapters soon), an idea was conceived: "What if Jess went to Narnia and found out that Terabithia (or rather Terebinthia by the folks) was just another small land under a more powerful authority?" But this isn't the main theme, don't be misled.

Aravis Riddle, another author of fanfictions in this site, was the one who introduced me to the world of fanfiction, so I guess she deserves to be mentioned. Just wanna thank her.

Okay then, I guess that's all there is to it as of now. I think I'll just say more as the story goes.

On with the story then…

Just don't forget to leave reviews. They're essential for my improvement as a writer. And maybe for you, dear reader, might even use a career for being a good critic! :)


	3. THE FIRST CHAPTER: PART ONE

**LESLIE'S DEAD**

Jesse Aarons, Jr. walked into his home with a dreamy look in his eyes. He just had the best day of his life, having spent the whole day with his favorite teacher, Miss Edmunds, or so he thought. Upon walking in through the door, which he later wished he hadn't, he heard May Belle say, "See, I told you!" and the next second his mother was running to him and came hugging him, at the same time hearing his dad say, "Where in God's name have you been?" This startled the boy, for he thought he told his mom that he was going on a field trip, and he told her so. Then he heard something from Brenda which knocked him to his senses (or rather knocked him further out).

"We thought you were dead! She's dead."

Now who is she talking about now?

"Dead? Who? Wh- what's going on?"

"Your friend Leslie is dead," It was his dad who replied. "She drowned in the creek this morning..."

At this Jesse turned pale.

"…apparently she tried to swing across with the rope and it broke. They think she hit her head."

He felt that there was something wrong with the story. He knew that the rope could not break that easily, and he told everyone that, but his dad approached him and said, "I'm sorry son, but it did…"

He couldn't bear listening to it any longer. They were all lies, lies, lies! And he rushed out of the house. This couldn't be happening, can it? He ran towards the road, at the direction of his friend's house. He thought that if he could just go to her house and make her say that it was all just a joke and that… that she's alive and they could still swing together with the rope and rule Terabithia forever… but he saw something he never expected to see. In front of the house were a bunch of cars from the sheriff's department. What are they doing in there? Do they know about him? Are they going to ask him about what happened when he didn't even know it himself? Maybe he could just come by the next day, when the police would be gone, or he would just go ask Leslie at school. "It's all a lie, right, Leslie?" He was lying on his bed, clutching his drawing book in his hand with the page displaying an image resembling his bestfriend open. He fell asleep that way.

"You can't be dead…"

The next morning he woke up early, as usual to do his chores, but his mom told him that his dad had already done them, and she made him sit and have breakfast. Everyone was looking at him weirdly, was it his hair?

Then his mom said, "Jess, your father and I think that we should go to the Burkes' (that was Leslie's family) to pay respects today, just the three of us."

He just gave them a puzzled look. "Pay what?"

So after breakfast went to Leslie's house. He was sure that he should have been pretty excited about it, having his and her parents meet and be friends as well, and with this he could ask Leslie about something he had completely forgotten, which sounded like something of a joke. They walked into the house and there were a lot of people, all wearing black. What's going on? He thought. Then Mr. Burke approached him.

"You were the best friend she's ever had. She loved you, you know? I would like to thank you for that. You were the reason she had been happy in the last days. She used to have no friend at school in our old home…" Mr. Burke said.

He didn't know that, but deep inside he knew that he loved her as well. She and miss Edmunds were the only ones who appreciated his talent. She was the only one he could talk to with everything that was on his mind. But he thought that it would be rude not to say anything, so he said, "you're welcome," and left Mr. Burke to talk with his parents. Now where's Leslie?

He saw Miss Edmunds.

"Next time, let's bring Leslie along," he told miss Edmunds, "she'd like that."

At this he walked out, knowing not where to go.


	4. THE FIRST CHAPTER : PART TWO

**WAKING UP WITH REALITY**

It was a lovely morning, or atleast it was conventionally. The sunshine was seeping through, birds could be heard humming happy melodies outside, and the wind carried the moderate morning chill all through the small window. It would have been a great day to start with, but not for Jesse, who was still grieving over his bestfriend's… I don't want to mention it. Of course everybody would know what happened (unless you have just passed by here without actually reading the novel or watching the movie), and saying it would only mean more sadness in the thoughts of someone here. He didn't even want to remember it anymore, and even trying to take the blame from himself never made him feel any better either.

He thought he was over it, but he kept on having nightmares about her swinging on the rope, which always snapped, and her falling into the water to be never seen again. He would always be there watching all along, on the other side of the creek, but whenever he tried to come and save her, he wouldn't be able to move. He would just be standing there, seeing her meet her demise, and all he could do was scream and cry

"Leslie, don't come here!"

"Leslie, STOP!"

And he would wake up with all the sweat and tears. This dream occurred many times, and every time she fell, he was always helpless. In some of these recurring dreams he shouted at her and tried to stop her from swinging or even getting near the rope, but she seemed to not hear him, and repeated the whole process of swinging and falling, with him on the far side watching.

If he would not be awakened upon seeing her fall, his dream would go to the memory of the last day he saw her alive, that one rainy day. The water was very high up the creek at that time that when they swung their feet touched the muddy water. They were running together, her arms around their "court jester". He thought it was a perfect moment, as it had always been when he was with her. She turned around, waved goodbye and continued running towards her home. He just looked on until she was gone. Nobody knew that it would be the last look he would ever give her, and the wave of "goodbye" would be for forever. He thought he could always be with her. He thought of them growing up together, and still going into their kingdom, swinging the magic rope.

How could she not have felt that this was going to be their last swing together? He thought that women have this thing called intuition (according to her atleast) which is sensing something that could be wrong, he always thought that that was what made her do everything she did, but why didn't her intuition work that time (Or maybe she did, but just shrugged it off)? And why did she not notice the rope that was about to break? Why did he not notice that either? He used to always look above him before he swinged to make sure that the rope was still in the right condition, but he had forgotten to do so lately, for all that were in his thoughts were the kingdom he had to protect and the girl he's going to be with, to whom he can share his confidence and problems. She was the only one who knew more about him than anybody else, in spite of the fact that they became friends only a few months ago. How dare he ever think of having a good night's sleep that night before that tragedy happened? How dare he ever get to sleep that night, smiling, oblivious of the danger that might befall her?

But he could not do a thing. She was gone, and she left him alone, as he had always been before he met her. He wished he had never met her. That way, he would not have been more miserable than he was before she came into his life. Why did she even exist, only to leave him later? Why did life have to be so unfair?

Since then, he had to settle on living his former life: the one without her, without Terabithia, without everything else that came with her. He continued his life as a loser, although not much of it, since Janice Avery respected him and stopped bullying others, and since his classmates did not call him a loser anymore, they all respected him then. He stopped visiting the Kingdom he used to love, for it only brought him more sorrow. The last time he went there he saw what remained of the rope, and he started imagining what has happened, which later became the recurring dreams he had every night that deprived him of good sleep.

In one of these recurring nightmares he managed to turn his head slightly around. At that direction, near the rope, he saw something that he had never noticed before in the previous episodes of the dream. He saw a fallen tree, which seemed like a bridge towards the other side. The fallen tree was familiar though, they have walked on it before they saw that cursed rope, but one strange thing he saw was something standing in the middle of the tree-bridge. For a moment it looked like a four footed shadow, then it was gone.

He woke up in that instant. What was that?


	5. THE FIRST CHAPTER: PART THREE

**FORGET ME NOT**

"Good morning Jesse!"

It was May Belle, whose bed was just across his own.

He seemed to not have heard it. He was too busy thinking about what he saw in his dream.

This he was going to find out.

After school he ran towards the place he meant to go to. At last he was in front of the rope, where… he cringed at the thought of it. Then he looked at the direction where he saw it, and there it was, looking exactly like the one he saw in his dream, but no four footed creature stood in the middle.

He then went on to the other side. He felt the welcoming breeze of the forest, of the place they used to call something that he had forgotten, considering the time that went between him and that place. He felt guilty for forgetting its name. He went to the treehouse that used to be so familiar. He climbed in and saw the things the way they were when he last saw them. He saw a can of cookies and wondered if it's not yet spoiled, considering the time that they have been away. He felt hungry and found his hands opening the can and shoving the cookies in his mouth. It still tasted good. After helping himself with the treats he decided to go around the house to see everything else in it. As he went through he saw a map torn in the middle. He then remembered that it was him that made the mess. He was so angry at himself, of Leslie, of everyone, that he wrecked the whole place and left it like that, for a long time. There was something written in there, but all that's left in the words were "Te_ha". It must be the name of that secret place, and if he would ask anyone about it, then it would no longer be a secret. Only the two of them knew about this place, but he could no longer remember its name.

He saw behind the treehouse another tree, which he felt was of some importance to him. He climbed up it, and at the top he saw the barren field beyond the creek. Memories then started playing in his head.

It was the first time he had a glimpse of the kingdom they have created.

"Look at it. It's all ours. From the mountains to the oceans…"

"What am I looking for exactly?"

"You'll see. Just close your eyes and keep your mind wide open."

He did this unconsciously, and upon opening them, what did he see?

It's still the barren field.

Another set of memories played along.

"Wow. What do we call this place?"

It was then that he remembered the name that has always been on his mind, but can't seem to force it out due to the sworn secrecy about the place. It's as if his mind itself kept the secret from him, who owned the body. But now he remembered. The missing letters were at last filled up.

"Terabithia."


End file.
